1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the claimed invention relate generally to surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and more particularly, to a contact-type endoscope SERS probe and related methods.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Molecular imaging is an emerging branch of advanced biomedical imaging techniques. It plays a particularly significant role when it is difficult to discern the stage of disease by conventional optical or ultrasonic imaging. It provides crucial information for the biochemical study of the target tissues by reading molecular signatures without necessarily requiring a physical biopsy.
Among various modalities in molecular imaging, Raman spectroscopy (RS) is particularly interesting because it does not require flourophores, and therefore induces minimal alteration to the targeted tissue. Conventional Raman scattering is therefore a common technique for detecting and identifying complex molecular samples. However, regular RS tends to have very poor sensitivity. One remedy for this problem is surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In SERS, the analytes are placed in close proximity to either nanometallic particles or a metallic surface with nanometer-scale roughness. Placing the nanorough metallic surface close to the sample can greatly enhance the Raman signal.1-5 However, existing procedures for SERS imaging of a sample typically require the sample to be situated between the Raman spectrometer and the nanorough metallic surface. In most cases the sample must be biopsied in order to meet this requirement.